Source: Coastweek.comA baby elephant of approximately 2 years old was recently found dead at a private game sanctuary.Upon close examination, the cause of death was clearly from a poachers snare that had completely cut off the baby’s trunk as the poor animal probably attempted to free it self in an attempt to rejoin its mother. It is impossible to imagine the amount of pain and suffering this baby went through over the last few days, slowly succumbing to starvation, infection and heavy blood loss. Residents of villages surrounding many national parks and reserves have increasingly turn-ed to bush meat poaching with snares that they leave behind concealed among bushes to trap game meat. As these poachers attempt to catch Dik-Dik, Warthog and the like, unfortunately these traps are unforgiving and will literally capture anything that gets caught in it, with most victims being the juvenile of wildlife such as Cheetahs, Lions and as shown here elephants.Organizations such as Care For The Wild and the Kenya Wildlife Service tirelessly conduct de-snaring operations regularly to rid the parks of these death traps and can even collect over 200 snares a day. Poachers however secretly return to replace the lost snares and the vicious cycle continues. Members of the public are encouraged to contact the nearest KWS or Police stations with assurance of full confidentiality to help track the illegal bush meat poachers and stop the needless killing of our wild animals.

Multimillionaire John Hume believes the law is stacked against rhino owners, who, he says, sometimes have to risk their lives to protect their property.Hume's son, Richard, appeared in the Malelane Magistrate's Court, in Mpumalanga, yesterday charged with attempted murder after shooting an alleged poacher on the Mauricedale game reserve, which the family owns, on September 24. Hume, the biggest private rhino owner in South Africa, said that his son came across five men on the farm who had poached a warthog and a nyala on the reserve . He shot at them and, though the circumstances of the shooting are still to be verified in court, one of the men - 28-year-old Sabelo Maphungla - was hit in the back of the head. He was arrested along with two other men. The other two fled. Said Hume: "I have a small army guarding my rhino and it is costing me a fortune every month. But [the guards] are sh*t-scared of firing a shot at poachers because, if they were to hit them, they would also be charged with murder." Mpumalanga police spokesman Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the police viewed the matter as "serious" and "we believe he has a case to answer". More....

The Arusha National Park is turning into a zoo, surrounded by emerging human settlements from all sides; the country's oldest park has become an isolated wildlife oasis in which animals now face extinction due to inbreeding.

Previously, animal corridors used to connect the Arusha National Park with the West Kilimanjaro wilderness in the leeward of the continent's highest mountain, as well as Amboseli National Park just across the border into Kenya but all these passages have been blocked by people's invasion. The Chief Ecologist with the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), Dr James Wakibara, told the Regional Consultative Committee meeting held to address the threats of conservation areas here, that the Arusha National Park, being blocked from other wildernesses in which its animals used to migrate back and forth, signals danger to the wildlife. "All animals, and even humans, must move from one place to another at times, this while sometimes is important for grazing it plays major role when it comes to mating and breeding," explained Dr Wakibara adding that since human beings have blocked all passages, causing the wildlife in ANAPA to be tightly confined within the small park. Measuring just 137 square kilometres, the Arusha National Park, located at the foot of Mount Meru, which is the country's second highest peak, also happens to be the water reservoir for Arusha City because all rivers and water sources originate from this conserved area. Despite being rather small, ANAPA has adequate wildlife; common animals include giraffe, buffalo, zebra, warthog, the black-and-white Colobus monkey, the blue monkey, flamingos and large pythons. Large African elephants as well as leopards are present, but rarely seen and lions have since disappeared from the park. More....

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal lodged by a convicted poacher, Bikolimana Odasi, alias Bimelifasi, to challenge both conviction and the 35-year-jail sentence imposed on him for illegal possession of fire arms in a game reserve and government trophies. "We find the appeal to have no merit. Hence, the appeal is dismissed in its entirety," Justices Mbarouk Mbraouk, William Mandia and Batuel Mmilla said, overruling the grounds of appeal advanced to dispute the trial verdict, which was confirmed by High Court Judge Haruna Songoro on August 9, last year. In the appeal, Odasi had alleged that the prosecution witnesses contradicted themselves during the trial and that there was no consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to confer jurisdiction on the Resident Magistrate's Court to handle the trial. The justices agreed with the prosecution that the inconsistency or contradiction pointed out by the appellant with regard to the prosecution witnesses was not fundamental and did not go to the root of the matter, which is whether or not he was found with the weapons and government trophies illegally. "For not being fundamental, discrepancy or contradiction, we are constrained not to discredit the evidence of the prosecution witnesses. For that reason, we find the ground complaint that there were contradictions between prosecution witnesses to have lacked merit," they ruled. Regarding lack of consent by the DPP to confer jurisdiction to a lower court to hear the case, the justices also agreed with the prosecution position that the records were very clear that such consent and certificate had been filed at the trial court. More....

Campaigners in Kenya opened a new front in the war on poaching yesterday, with a website dedicated to naming and shaming the culprits behind the slaughter of Africa's wild animals.

Kenyans United Against Poaching (Kuapo) launched PoachersExposed.com <http://PoachersExposed.com> to publish the names and photographs of convicted poachers, smugglers and buyers who are fuelling an illegal market that US officials fear is the fourth largest in the world.

"Your name is going to be there, in front of everyone, whether you poach an elephant or a dik-dik [small antelope\," said Salisha Chandra, the coordinator of Kuapo. "And it's not just the person who shoots the bullets, but the middlemen and the person who buys it at the other end as well."

More than 40 per cent of Kenyans have access to the internet, mostly through their mobile phones, according to government statistics, making the country one of the most cyber-savvy in Africa.

The PoachersExposed website will also collate details on courts, magistrates and prosecutors to see which ones get the best results and whether any are being suspiciously lenient.

The only case listed last night was that of a Kenyan man caught hunting a warthog, a first-time offender, who was sentenced to four years in prison. It was an unusually severe sentence in a country where ivory smugglers - including a former US colonel - are let off with fines of [pounds sterling\ 225 for carrying thousands of pounds worth of tusks. "There are so many arrests, but there is so little follow-up. This is a way of making sure the poaching story doesn't die," Ms Chandra said. More....

Namibia will airlift 10 rhinoceros and five elephants to Cuba in September, concluding a massive translocation project of 135 animals taken from its national parks, the environment ministry said Wednesday.

The 15 animals will be captured from the Etosha National Park in northern Namibia—one of the country's major tourist attractions—plus a nearby smaller game reserve, the Waterberg Plateau, environment and tourism deputy-minister Pohamba Shifeta told AFP. The ambitious project, dubbed Noah's Ark II, has populated Cuba's 342-hectare (845-acre) National Zoo outside Havana. A total of 120 animals of 23 species—including endangered black and white rhinos, cheetahs, leopards and lions—were already transported to the Caribbean island nation in November.Animal rights groups have protested the capture of wild animals. But Shifeta defended the translocation as Namibia's "token of appreciation" to Cuba for its support. Cuba gave the southern African country political and military backing during its struggle for independence from South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s. "Cuban people were not complaining when their government was supporting us," Shifeta told AFP. More....

The lack of land and high unemployment is driving the young people of the Omitara settlement to look for consolation in the liquor bottle while others engage in poaching on neighbouring farms, driving a wedge between their community and the farmers. Police Public Relations Committee (PPRC) chairperson and resident of Omitara settlement, Steven Eigowab, told New Era about the poaching and the abuse of alcohol by many disgruntled, unemployed youths in this rural backwater. Eigowab accused some Windhoek residents of influencing young people at Omitara to commit crimes and engage in alcohol abuse. He claimed that outsiders flood the settlement with the sale of alcohol worsening the situation at the settlement. Residents attempted to start a youth against crime programme, but it failed to materialise due to unemployment. "They say they need to poach to sell meat," said Eigowab who noted that they regard poaching as a form of income-generation. No economic activities take place at the settlement other than the sale of food and alcohol and the Okarukambe Constituency Councillor, who is also the Deputy Minister of Works and Transport, Kilus Nguvauva, promised the settlers the creation of an open market, however this has not yet materialised. Approached for comment, Nguvauva said he never discussed the establishment of an open market with the residents and invited New Era to travel with him to the settlement in order for residents to air their concerns in his presence. About 10 shebeens operate in the small settlement of 1 630 residents, however the police carry out random patrols to check on adherence to operating hours and if the establishments are being operated legally, according to Eigowab.In addition, the Omitara police station commander, Sergeant Jacqueline Sakala, confirmed that illegal hunting or poaching, trespassing, stock theft, domestic violence, as well as assaults to cause grievous bodily harm are the most common crimes committed at the settlement with a total of 66 reported cases from January to date and a total of 79 cases last year.More....

Some wildlife species are facing extinction due to widespread subsistence poaching in the Tsavo Conservation Area (TCA) in Taita-Taveta County.

The Kenya Wildlife Service has expressed fear that the on-going bush meat trade in local ranches was adversely affecting tourism and needs to be addressed.TCA Assistant Director Robert Obrein said the animals targeted by the illegal hunters included warthogs, zebras, impala and dik dik among other small game in the region.He noted that a recent resource inventory carried out in nine ranches by KWS show declining numbers of the animals in the area.In some of the ranches, the survey shows that such wildlife species had completely been wiped out by the poachers.Resource Inventory “We are still waiting for funds to carry out another resource inventory in the 20 remaining ranches. The exercise will help us determine the number of remaining wildlife in the ranches worst hit by poaching activities,” he said.The conservation body had conducted a feasibility study to map out resources that are of conservation importance in the region. More....

Some wildlife species are facing extinction due to widespread subsistence poaching in the Tsavo Conservation Area (TCA) in Taita-Taveta County.

The Kenya Wildlife Service has expressed fear that the on-going bush meat trade in local ranches was adversely affecting tourism and needs to be addressed.TCA Assistant Director Robert Obrein said the animals targeted by the illegal hunters included warthogs, zebras, impala and dik dik among other small game in the region.He noted that a recent resource inventory carried out on nine ranches by KWS show declining numbers of the animals in the area.In some of the ranches, the survey shows that such wildlife species had completely been wiped out by the poachers.Resource Inventory “We are still waiting for funds to carry out another resource inventory in the 20 remaining ranches. The exercise will help us determine the number of remaining wildlife in the ranches worst hit by poaching activities,” he said.The conservation body had conducted a feasibility study to map out resources that are of conservation importance in the region. More....

Abdur Rehman is one of the few taxidermists in all of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and makes the rather tall claim that he has “so far stuffed every wildlife species found in Pakistan.” Taxidermy is the art of preparing and stuffing the skin of animals to mount for display. Mounted animals are popularly found in natural history museum collections or atop the proud hunter’s mantle place. Rehman has a substantive list of animals he has worked on, “hogs, deer – barasingha, chinkara (gazelle), leopards, cheetahs, golden pheasants, silver pheasants, sea gulls…” The list goes on to include peacocks, monkeys, water fowls such as the Ruddy Shelduck, locally known as Surkhab, and other migratory birds such as sparrows, grouse and parrots. He told The Express Tribune he had “nearly stuffed every animal in the province, either in a personal capacity or as an official taxidermist.” His journey to preserve wildlife in its inanimate form began 28 years ago. “I joined my uncle in Lahore, who is a well-known taxidermist, in 1985. It took me six years to master the various processes involved in skinning, tanning, washing, preserving and creating the cast which the skin is mounted on,” explained Rehman. Birds are easier to work on and stuff, and only require two days to complete the process for an animal the size of a pheasant. Although there was some variety in the type of client, it is mostly the hunters who come knocking at the taxidermist’s door, wanting to preserve their bloody trophies as pristine mounts.Skin, tan, cast Most people hand over the carcasses soon after the hunt – then it is Rehman’s time to get his hands dirty. More....

Bonnie Lane in Elk Grove Village seems an unlikely place to be sniffing around for elephant tusks and black rhinoceros horns brought into the United States from Africa, but Lancer the G-dog "nose" his way around cargo facilities.Lancer, a 4-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, is newly assigned to the Chicago area after recently graduating from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's first training class of wildlife detector dogs.While canines have been used for years to help authorities find fugitives and missing children, track down smuggled narcotics and identify explosives at airports and train stations, Lancer's mission is to intercept illegally trafficked wildlife and animal parts from protected or endangered species.The value of the illegal wildlife trade worldwide is at least $5 billion a year and potentially exceeds $20 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service.Lancer represents the newest weapon at a key entry point to the U.S. — O'Hare International Airport — in the war against the growing international trade in threatened animal parts, officials said.The smuggled goods range from exotic live reptiles, birds and fish from threatened populations to trophies of lions, leopards, elephants and other beasts illegally shot by hunters to smaller items, including tiger parts and rhino horns, that are destined for the black market for purported medicinal or other purposes, officials said. More....

By Edson HaufikuThe Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) has placed on tender the trophy hunting of two aged male black rhinoceros in eastern Kavango during the current hunting season which ends in November. The hunting on state land began in 2009, after the practice was approved by Cabinet in 2007. This will mark only the second time that black rhino’s will be offered for hunting since the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) approved an annual quota of five rhinos. In 2012, Cabinet endorsed the killing of the two black rhinos, having already approved three black rhino concessions during the last three hunting seasons. According to a MET tender notice released this week, the individual animals to be hunted will be determined by the ministry, while all hunts will be accompanied by MET officials. In the release, the ministry invited the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB) and other registered Namibian companies, owned by or having in its employment a Namibian MET registered big game professional hunter to provide the ministry with financial offers for one rhinoceros per company. A 20% discount will be afforded to companies with at least a twenty percentage ownership by formerly disadvantaged Namibians and 10% for companies employing formerly disadvantaged Namibians as professional big game hunters. The funds generated from the venture go to the MET’s Game and Products Trust Fund (GPTF). Questions forwarded to MET permanent secretary Simon Negumbo on how much revenue the GPTF has collected in the last three hunting season went unanswered by the time of going to print. More....

We followed a path where elephant and leopard, kudu and buffalo, duiker and bush pig had trod the night before. No one so much as whispered, coughed or sneezed. Like phantoms, our six-man unit moved in crouching position, keeping to the shadows, using only hand and finger signals occasionally and visual communication. Shots had rang out in the early hours of the morning, in the still woodland death had struck from a poacher's bullets. In front was Francis, our tracker scout. Hardened field man, wise in the ways of poachers stopped. He moved as silent as smoke, we followed steadily. Our quarry were no fools, they were just as toughened to the bush conditions and would fight savagely if need be to escape arrest, escape jail. There was the sound of breaking branches, coughing and the sharpening of knives against knives. Francis motioned for us to stay put; he advanced carefully over loose stones. He returned and we knew what had to be done. We split up, took positions in thick cover, keeping always to the shadows. Five men surrounded the carcass of an eland. They were quick, professional as they worked the knives into the carcass. A hind leg was removed, then a foreleg. As the belly was opened up a hiss of air erupted from the belly. It sent an aroma of still wet undigested leaves and twigs. A smallish stout man raised an axe and with it he severed the head from the neck, and then he did likewise to the neck, separating from the rib cage. Soon the entire eland was dismembered. They laid out the pieces neatly on cut leafy branches. They took their rest, lighting crude cigarettes, laughing and talking. Three more characters filed onto the scene. One had a rifle slung over his left shoulder, obviously the hunter; he grinned on seeing the results of the efficiency of the workmanship. More....

The government has stepped up anti-poaching operations with a view to stamping out the poaching menace noting that the country has already lost 74 elephants since the year begun. Through a statement sent to newsrooms, Government spokesman Muthui Kariuki said Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) would deploy 1000 more rangers to beef up wildlife security efforts. He added that the ranger force would also be equipped with cutting edge training and equipment to facilitate the security operations. “KWS is modernising its force with the support of the government. We intend to fight poachers at all levels to save our elephants,” he said. Kariuki however noted that lenient penalties by the Courts were major setbacks in the fight against poaching. He argued that outdated wildlife laws needed to be reviewed with a view of setting up stiffer penalties and jail terms noting that Kenya lost 289 elephants to poaching in 2011 and another 384 elephants in 2012. The government spokesman expressed hope that the 11th Parliament would give priority to a new wildlife policy also aimed at fighting poaching. The Constitution has already placed progressive provisions on the protection of the environment including wildlife conservation. “The government is concerned about this and has facilitated the process of reviewing the wildlife law and policy with a view to having more deterrent penalties and jail terms,” he revealed. On Wednesday Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) intercepted 1.4 kilograms of worked ivory from four transit passengers who were to connect flights to their final destinations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Five suitcases belonging to four Chinese and one Vietnamese were selected for further examination and four out of the five were found to conceal worked ivory. The first suspect’s, Guan Xu, suitcase contained eight round ivory, seven bead bangles, three bars and two pen holders. He arrived from Mozambique and was heading to Hong Kong. His suitcase had an extra foil paper lining to minimise detection through screening. More....

Source: Saturday MonitorBy Martin Ssebuyira Prison warders ordered to detain 76 men convicted for hunting without licences were faced with a rare dilemma; what to do with the 30 hunting dogs. The 76 hunters from Mpenja, Butambala, were arrested on Tuesday in Kiboga District and convicted, on their guilty pleas, of hunting protected animals without licences. They were sentenced to fines of about Shs100,000 each. Grade One Magistrate Masitula Mulondo also ordered the burning of the 66 hunting nets impounded and said the verdict of the remaining exhibits, including 30 hunting dogs, 45 machetes and six knives would be decided on March 22. However, the court session ended at 7.30pm, after banks had closed, and the hunters were locked up as they could not pay the fines. This left the warders with the dilemma of what to deal with one particularly problematic set of exhibits; the hunting dogs, which prosecutor Charles Okeny described as exhibits. More....

ABSTRACT The Digya National Park in Ghana has been the scene of conflicts between local communities and wildlife managers ever since its establishment in 1971. The conflicts range from apprehension of local people by Wildlife Officials for entry into the park to collect non-timber forest products, to serious confrontation with poachers, arrests and evictions that occasionally result in deaths. Documented information on these conflicts, however, is scanty. This study examines the root causes of conflict in Digya National Park, with a view to recommending policy interventions that will help curtail the conflicts. Data for the study were derived from focused group discussions, direct interviews with stakeholders, on-site observations, as well as, from a management effectiveness evaluation exercise that involved administration of a pre-designed questionnaire to protected area managers and administrators. The results revealed that a major underlying source of conflict in the park was poverty in neighbouring communities. This, together with unresolved issues of compensation payment, animal raids on farmlands and exclusion of local communities in the management process, have fuelled illegal activities, mainly hunting and encroachment, leading to several conflict situations. Arrest of culprits and forced evictions by Wildlife Officials had not helped in curtailing illegal activities and conflicts. The study recommends linking wildlife management to community development to ensure that local economies and livelihoods of fringe communities are sustained while seeking to attain the objectives of wildlife conservation in order to minimize conflicts.

INTRODUCTION Protected areas constitute a major component of national and regional strategies to counter biodiversity loss. They are considered as in situ repositorys of genetic wealth as well as relics of pristine landscapes that deeply touch the spiritual, cultural, aesthetic and relational dimensions of human existence (Chape et al., 2003; Putney, 2003). In recent times however two terminologies ‘paper parks’ and ‘island parks’ have become synonymous with many protected areas, depicting how most protected areas have failed to maintain their ecological character (Laurance, 2008). Invariably, humans are the main agents of park degradation and are responsible for the failure or abysmal performance of most protected areas. More....

The African continent is littered with the carcasses of elephants, rhinoceros and other species that poachers are slaughtering to the point of near-extinction. An August 2011 article in Vanity Fair estimated that the elephant population in Africa during the 1970s and 1980s was cut from 1.3 million to roughly 600,000. This time is commonly referred to as the "great elephanticide." In recent years, it has been estimated that there are 36,500 elephants poached on the continent for their ivory tusks every year. As the article explains, the rapid growth of the middle class in China has placed a premium on ivory and and animal skins, and poachers are all too willing to accommodate the increasing demand. Johnny Rodrigues, a conservationist in Zimbabwe, told the news source about a watering hole from which all manner of creature drink. "Elephant, giraffe, zebras, sable, kudu, warthog, baboons, buffalo, even hyenas and jackals – all your different species came, and each took its turn to take a drink," he said. "It was like Noah's Ark. And after all had a drink they came back a second time, each in its turn. And you say to yourself, Why can't humans learn from that? We'd kill each other to get to the water." Now, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is taking a technology commonly associated with targeted killings and trying to prevent villainous criminals from poaching these majestic animals into extinction. More....

Bushmeat consumption, or "wildlife hunted for human consumption," poses a significant threat to wildlife conservation all across the globe. But in Eastern Africa—where savannah grasslands flourish and big game roam free within 'protected' reserves—one may be forgiven to think that poaching does not occur here: but it does.

"It is difficult to know how to change people's behavior without clear knowledge of the factors affecting bushmeat consumption," write the authors of a new study in mongabay.com's open-access Tropical Conservation Science.

In order to better understand the trade, the researchers interviewed indigenous groups (Pimbwe, Fipa and Rungwa) known for their bushmeat consumption as well as immigrant Sukuma groups "that have no strong reputation for being hunters," the authors said. The groups were situated in villages bordering two protected areas: Katavi National Park and Rukwa Game Reserve.

Among the key questions, interviewees were asked how many animal carcasses entered their village every year and how often they consumed bushmeat during the month prior to interviewing.

Responses were cross referenced with household size, education (primary or secondary), distance of village to the nearest protected area and household wealth. Wealth was measured in 4 ways: area under cultivation (hectares), livestock ownership, poultry ownership and assets owned such as cell phone, radio, tin-roof etc.

"Unsurprisingly, we find that households nearer to protected area borders report more carcasses entering their villages regardless of ethnicity," the authors state, adding "with respect to bushmeat consumption, the same pattern is seen for the indigenous sample." Interestingly though, bushmeat consumption did not follow the same trends in the Sukuma sample.

Other factors for bushmeat consumption differ markedly between groups. Wealthier indigenous groups were found to consume more bushmeat.

"Pimbwe, Fipa and other indigenous populations of the Rukwa valley use their traditional sources of wealth to generate cash to purchase and consume bushmeat," the researchers suggest. More....

Source: Panapress.comA keeper with the Waza National Park, in northern Cam eroon, was killed at the weekend by poachers, the public radio-television (CRTV) reported. According to a CRTV local correspondent, the keeper was shot dead Saturday night in an ambush by poachers hunting 'protected' animal species. The keeper was said have died while being taken to the hospital. The killers left, at the crime scene, a suitcase which contained an animal shell and bike, with the registration number of a neighbouring country. The Waza National Park, located some 2,000 kilometres away from Yaounde, the Cam eroonian capital, was created in 1968 and enlisted as a reserve of the biosphere in 1982. In addition to the flora, Waza has an abundance of a diversified wildlife made u p of lions, giraffes, elephants, gazelles, warthogs and birds.